PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF COMMONWEALTH LIBRARIES

LIBRARY SERVICES & TECHNOLOGY ACT (LSTA)

GRANT PROGRAM

K-12 Collection Development Grant

Submission Deadline:

Applications must be submitted via the PDE e-Grants system to the Pennsylvania Department of Education by close of business (5:00 P.M.) Friday, October 5, 2012.

Background...... 2

Overview of the K-12 Collection Development Grant...... 2

Applicant Eligibility...... 3

Application Parameters...... 3

Grant Award Decisions...... 4

Grant Recipient Requirements...... 5

Application Instructions...... 6

Application Questions...... 7

Criteria for Evaluation of Applications...... 12

Internet Safety Certification for Applicant Public Libraries,

Public Elementary and Secondary School Libraries, and Consortia

with Public and/or Public School Libraries (CIPA):Guidelines & Form...... 16

eGrants Application Guidelines...... 21

eGrants Quick Reference Guide...... 26

For Assistance and InformationContact the LSTA Office at

Funds are available to states from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through a program stipulated by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) to develop library services throughout the States, U.S. Territories, and the Freely Associated States. This program is administered in Pennsylvania through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries for assisting libraries in providing all users access to information, developing partnerships, and increasing information access for persons who have difficulty gaining it. Assistance is available to all types of Pennsylvania libraries.

In Pennsylvania, LSTA funds are used for both statewide projects and for competitive grants. The statewide projects include activities such as professional development, public awareness, youth services, and statewide database projects. All types of libraries are eligible to apply for competitive grants. For 2013 projects, competitive grants are being offered for Content Creation, Digitization, K-12 Collection Development, Moving PA Forward, Technology Hardware, and Try It projects.In addition to this grant for K-12 school libraries, school libraries are also eligible to participate in consortium proposals available to other types of libraries.

Please note that the funding of competitive grant projects is contingent upon the Office of Commonwealth Libraries receiving its full fiscal year 2013 funding award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

No specific dollar amounts have been set aside to fund grants in certain categories. Available grant funds will be awarded to projects that are the most competitive and most appropriately help the state meet the goals and outcomes outlined in Pennsylvania’s Library Services and Technology Actlong-range plan.

The Office of Commonwealth Libraries establishes a Five-Year Plan for the use of the LSTA funds in Pennsylvania based on the priorities established by IMLS for the LSTA program. The second goal in Pennsylvania’s Five-Year Plan for 2013-2017 is to create opportunities for libraries to enhance their capacity to provide 21st Century resources, services and programs to their communities. The K-12 Collection Development grant is offered to meet this goal.

The Office of Commonwealth Libraries is accepting LSTA grant applications for the purchase of library materials. Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to strengthen collections in science or social studies, or to address informational resource needs for English language learners or the physically disabledthat also support the achievement of Pennsylvania’s Academic Standards, and the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner. Collections for English language learners or the physically disabled must also be in science or social studies.

Public and private K-12 school libraries.

Must participate in the Access PA Database and the POWER Library program.

Each building within a school district to be considered must submit a separate application for its library.

Librarians need to collaborate with classroom teachers to ensure the school library program is integral to the school curriculum. Evidence of collaboration will be required

Both elementary and secondary school libraries must provide an accessible, centrally-housed and organized collection of resources. They must have a line item in the district’s budget for library materials. They must employ a person who either is, or is supervised by, a certified school librarian. Only libraries already established will be funded.

The Office of Commonwealth Libraries must receive a letter of support for the project that is co-signed by the Superintendent, the librarian who is involved in the project,and the principal of the applying school. The letter must comment on the relationship of the proposed activity to present programs and plans for the development and improvement of service, and it must address the last four questions in the Background section of the application.

Collection Assessment and Development Plan

A collection assessment and development plan for the section of the library impacted by the new materials must be included in the proposal. Further details are on page 9.

Outcomes-Based Evaluation

The Office of Commonwealth Libraries is interested in evaluation. An important outcome of any library project is determining the impact on service to library customers. Each grant applicant will be required to develop an outcomes-based evaluation plan to measure the success of the grant project. This outcomes-based evaluation plan should focus on the difference made by the project, the impact of the project on the community, and the effect on the people served. (For additional information about Outcomes-Based Evaluation, see the IMLS website at

Uses of Funds

  • Eligible Expenditures
  • Purchased materials must support the achievement of Pennsylvania’s Academic Standards.
  • Applications focused on resources for English language learners or the physically disabled may include some equipment. Equipment costs cannot exceed $600 per unit, and will only be funded if needed for the utilization of the resources purchased with this grant. Any equipment or software purchased must be supervised by the librarian and becomes a part of the school library collection.
  • If a library received a previous LSTA collection development grant, this request must be for a different subject area.
  • Ineligible Expenditures
  • Funds may not be used to purchase classroom sets of titles.

Restrictions

  • The Office of Commonwealth Libraries will not approve grant awards for projects already under way or complete at the time of the grant application or before the grant is approved.
  • LSTA funds may not be used for basic operating costs of a library.
  • LSTA funds may not be used to supplant previously available local funds.

K-12 Collection Development Grant - 2013Page 1

  • Applicable federal and state laws govern LSTA funds.
  • Grant recipients may make no financial commitments of grant funds until the library receives the fully executed agreement containing the signatures of the appropriate officials.

Each grant application will be reviewed by a team of evaluators consisting of staff from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries and external library stakeholders. The Evaluation Criteria is found on page 12.

Higher scores will be given to applications from school libraries that can document specific collaborative activities with their local public libraries, provide a plan to market the grant funded materials,and that demonstrate with statistics that over 5% of the total collectionwas weeded in the 2011-2012 school year. More points will be awarded to proposals that show collaboration with special education teachers.

Libraries that have been recipients of LSTA funds in the past and have shown poor management of those funds will be given lower priority. Examples of poor management include not submitting reports on time, submitting incomplete reports, and reporting unspent funds after the end of the grant year.

The Office of Commonwealth Libraries staff will consider geographic distribution and the management of past LSTA or Keystone funds in the recommendation of applications. Applicants that have demonstrated poor management of previous grants willnot be recommended for funding. Using the recommendations of evaluators and staff, the Bureau of Library Development will make funding recommendations for projects to the Deputy Secretary.

The Secretary of Education makes the final award decisions.

Following the evaluation and selection process, each applicant will receive a letter with notification of the approval or rejection of their application.

Successful projects will begin on or about July 1, 2013.

Audit:

Some libraries receiving federal grant funds, such as LSTA, may be responsible for performing a single audit under provision to the single Audit Act of 1994, as amended, and all rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act.

Cash Management:

Recipients of LSTA funds are required to deposit the funds into a non-interest bearing account, or an account that will prevent them from accumulating more than $100 in interest.

Collection Development Policy:

After the grants are awarded, school districts receiving grant funds must submit a recent school-board approved Collection Development Policy, including a weeding policy, and procedures for handling challenges to resources with a Reconsideration of Materials Form. The weeding policy must include criteria for potential discarding and a process for disposal. The Collection Development Policy must have been approved within the past 10 years.

Pennsylvania Academic Standards:

Purchased materials must support the achievement of Pennsylvania’s Academic Standards, and also the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner. Participating school libraries will be expected to work closely with their assigned liaisonwhich will approve orders for materials before the materials are ordered. Funds may not be used to purchase classroom sets of titles.

Records Management:

All libraries receiving LSTA funds are advised to retain files on awarded projects that include documentation on any activity associated with the project for at least five years after completion of the project.

Reporting:

Grant recipients will be required to submit periodic programmatic and financial reports throughout the grant year. In addition, a final narrative and financial report will be due to the Office of Commonwealth Libraries within 30 days of the close of the grant period. A follow-up report may be requested after the grant period to gather information about the current state of the project and the difference it has made in the community.

Resource Guide:

Successful applicants will be required to submit a resource guide with their final reports. This must be a Resource Guide similar to the “Materials and Resources” documents found in the Standard Aligned Systems (SAS) tools at The resource guide must relate to the subject or resources purchased with this grant, align to the Pennsylvania Academic Standards and Curriculum Framework, and identify both print and electronic resources for the grade level chosen.

Sharing Results:

Grant recipients must agree to share the results of their projects with other libraries. This includes onsite visits, as appropriate, and at times convenient to the grantee.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s eGrants System is used by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries to facilitate the electronic completion and submission of all grant applications. Step-by-step instructions for signing up your agency, access, completion and submission of the eGrants application begin on page 21. The eGrants Quick Reference Guide located on page 26 may be helpful when completing the application within the eGrants system.

Scanned copies of all theletters supportingthe project and thecompletedInternet Safety Certification for Applicant Public Libraries, Public Elementary and Secondary School Libraries, and Consortia with Public and/or Public School Libraries(seepage 18)should be merged into a single document and uploaded into the General Information section of the application. The originals must be postmarked on or before the submission deadline and mailed to:

LSTA Administrator

Pennsylvania Department of Education

Office of Commonwealth Libraries

Bureau of Library Development

Forum Building

607 South Drive

Harrisburg PA 17120-0600

Applications must be submitted via the PDE e-grant system to the Pennsylvania Department of Education by close of business (5:00 P.M.) Friday, October 5, 2012.

The following worksheet is provided for the applicant’s convenience to draft responses to the application questions. In questions with a narrative response, draft text answers can be spell checked and characters counted before copying and pasting into the online eGrants application. The maximum number of characters allowed is noted after the text question. Note: Punctuation and spaces count as characters.

Abstract

Briefly describe what you hope to purchase and accomplish with this project. (Maximum 2,500 Characters)

Background

What school district is your library in? ______

What is the school district’s state aid ratio? ______

What is your school district’s Federal Identification Number? ______

Provide the requested information for the school library applying

SchoolBuilding ______

Name of Librarian, Phone number, address and email

When did the librarian begin working at this library? ______

Is the school librarian part of the PDE required school improvement team? ______

Materials resource budget for 2011-2012 ______

Average publication/copyright date of the book collection (4 digits) ______

Number of library books per student in the library ______

Please provide the four-digit extension to your building’s zip code, or the US Congressional District your building is in. ______

Has your Superintendent agreed to supplement, not supplant, the library’s annual budget if these grant funds are awarded? Yes or No

Has your Superintendent agreed that the school librarian was involved in preparing this grant application? Yes or No

Has your Superintendent agreed to work closely with the assigned PDE/Office of Commonwealth Libraries, School Library Services liaison? Yes or No

Has your Superintendent agreed to submit plans, reports, and materials orders in accordance with the timeline provided by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries? Yes or No

Upload a document of the scanned required letter and Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) compliance by clicking on the link below. To upload, the letter and CIPA compliance will need to first be scanned into a single document in electronic format and saved to a file that you have access to. (Link will be provided in the online application.)

Staffing and Hours

Staffing

What is the number of certified librarians (full time equivalent) in your building? _____

(For example, if the librarian is in this building two days per week,

the full-time equivalent is 2/5 or .4)

What is the number of paid library aides (full time equivalent) in your building? ______

(For example, if the aide is in this building's library two days per week, the full-time equivalent is 2/5 or .4. Full time equivalent would be 'one' if one aide is in your building's library all day every day.)

What is the ratio of certified full time librarians to students in your building? ______

(For example, if the librarian is in this building 2.5 days per week,

And there are 600 students, the ratio is .5 to 600 or .5:600.

Hours

Provide the number of hours the school library is open and staffed by a certified librarian for each day of the week. In the first row, indicate the percentage of hours open during the school day. In the second row, indicate the number of hours open beyond the school day. Note: You will need to re-key this information onlinebecause this section cannot be copied and pasted.

Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday

Provide the number of hours the school library is open and staffed by an aide for each day of the week. In the first row, indicate the percentage of hours open during the school day. In the second row, indicate the number of hours open beyond the school day. Note: You will need to re-key this information onlinebecause this section cannot be copied and pasted.

Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday

Collection Development Plan

Provide the collection development plan for this grant of $5,000. (Maximum 30,000 Characters)

The Collection Development Plan(s) should includethe following:

  • Area (science or social studies) and, if applicable, whether or not it will be for specialized resources for English Language Learners or the physically disabled
  • Purpose or need for the $5,000 to address the area/specialized resources chosen
  • The average age of the total print collection and area chosen
  • The size of the total collection as well as the size of the collection representing the chosen area for this project
  • An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the area/specialized resources chosen for this project
  • What types of materials will be purchased to meet curricular and student needs as identified in the purpose
  • How the new materials will be selected showing librarian, teacher, and possibly student and/or public librarian collaboration
  • How collection development will be sustained after the grant year, and
  • Evidence that 5% of the total collection was weeded in 2011-2012.
  • How the new materials will be marketed.

Click on the link below to upload verification/evidence that 5% of the collection was weeded in the 2011-2012 school year. You may also upload additional detail about your collection development plan. However, both must be merged into a single document before uploading. (Link will be provided in the online application.

Instructional Role of the Librarian and Collaboration

Does your school library participate in the Access Pennsylvania Database Program? _____

If so, briefly describe how you use the Access PA database (Maximum 1,000 Characters)

Does your school library participate in the POWER Library Program? ______

If so, briefly describe how you use the POWER Library databases (Maximum 1,000 Characters)

Describe how the librarian will be, or is, included in developing curriculum for the use of the resources being requested in this grant. (Maximum 3,000 Characters)